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Pollution levels in the centre of Musselburgh fell to zero last weekend with people remaining at home under lockdown.

The Scottish Air Quality website monitors pollution in places identified as air quality management areas by local authorities for SEPA.

And it recorded no nitrogen dioxide presence between 11pm on Saturday, May 16 and 8am on Sunday, May 17.

By comparison, the same period last year saw 26 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3) of nitrogen dioxide recorded at 11pm on the Saturday evening, dropping gradually to a low of 4ug/m3 at 6am and rising to 11ugm by 8am.

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The peak pollution level recorded last week was 16 ug/m3 on Wednesday, May 13, at 4pm. During the same week last year it peaked at 56 ug/m3 on the Tuesday, May 14 at 6pm.

The level of particle matters PM10 also fell below recording status with a low of 3ug/m3 on Tuesday, May 12, the last recording detected last week.

Musselburgh MSP Colin Beattie said the impact of lockdown on pollution in the town during the difficult lockdown period showed it is possible to reduce it permanently.

He said: “It has been a truly unique time that led to this drop in NO2 and PM10 and the circumstances that have led to these reductions have been difficult for everyone. It has been our duty to stay home and save lives, which means we are not making those car journeys that lead to these higher emissions.

“But this has proven the point that it is possible to significantly lower our emissions when we are only making journeys that are absolutely essential and think more about how and when we travel.

“Although the circumstances of lockdown are in no way sustainable, it has shown that with a shift in our thinking we can substantially reduce our carbon footprint and tackle climate change.

“We all have choices we when it comes to transport, and it is important that we try, where we can, to use options where less emissions are produced.

“Going forward we need to look at how we make electric cars cheaper, how we make public transport more accessible and affordable, and how we reduce the use of heavily polluting, diesel vehicles. In doing this, we not only help to tackle climate chance, but we protect our communities from pollution and worsened health as a result of these fumes."

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Musselburgh was declared an Air Quality Management Area seven years ago amid concern about high levels of Nitrogen Dioxide caused by heavy traffic through the centre of town.

Councillor Norman Hampshire, East Lothian Council’s environment spokesperson said: “We know from national measurements that the current lockdown measures in place to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a dramatic drop in road traffic. As it’s well established that road traffic is the main source of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) within urban areas these levels have reduced with resulting air quality improvement.

“East Lothian Council has already identified a number of measures to tackle air pollution concerns particularly within the Air Quality Management Area in Musselburgh which will include the development of greater opportunities for active travel including walking and cycling.”

Ward councillor John Williamson said he hoped people would look at alternative transport in the future

He said: “Here in Musselburgh there is the stark contrast of pre-lockdown air quality readings of 56 compared with zero last weekend due to less vehicle use.

“One positive which will hopefully emerge post-lockdown is that individuals will have realised that they do not need to use cars all the time, something that I hope will continue post lockdown.

“If this happens then we can potentially look forward to continued and sustained improvements in the air quality which will benefit us all.”

Fellow ward councillor Stuart Currie added: “I think what this demonstrates is that we simply cannot go back to where we were in terms of congestion and pollution.

“We need to find a way to ensure that, when we get back to a time or whatever normality looks like, we put public transport front and centre of the strategy to move large numbers of commuters out of cars on our roads each day. Radical solutions are required and we cannot afford to go back to where we’ve been."